The 21st season of modern day Canaries baseball in Sioux Falls starts this week with the opening pitch Thursday night in Sioux City and the home opener Friday night.

The American Association team opened the doors at Sioux Falls Baseball Stadium Tuesday for Media Day.

ESPN 99.1′s Jeff Harkness talked with the skipper, first about the biggest change off the field, the return to the Canaries moniker from Pheasants.

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Shirley has seen just about every kind of season in his seven previous yeas at the helm in Sioux Falls, from an American Association championship in 2008, to a runner-up finish in 2010, to back-to-back losing seasons in 2011 and 2012.

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

The 2013 Canaries roster features a host of familiar faces back on the pitching staff, where four of the eleven pitchers (Ben Moore, Jack VanLeur, Kyle Ruwe, and Alan DeRatt) have previous Sioux Falls experience, with a fifth (Mitchell Clegg) expected to join the team soon.

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Offensively, the Birds are looking for an influx of power from newly acquired infielder Jared Clark, who hit 24 home runs in the Rockies organization last season. Clark has twice been named a MiLB.com Organization All-Star.

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Just a pair of position players had played with the franchise before, infielders Cory Morales and Jake Taylor, which means Shirley is trying to learn a lot about his team in just two exhibition games and a handful of practices.

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

After the opener at Sioux City Thursday, the Canaries play six straight at home starting Friday night with three against the Explorers, and, after a day off Monday, three with St. Paul.

Welcome back to 1000 KXRB - Classic Country

It appears that you already have an account created within our VIP network of sites on .
To keep your points and personal information safe, we need to verify that it's really you.
To activate your account, please confirm your password.
When you have confirmed your password, you will be able to log in through Facebook on both sites.

*Please note that your points, prizes and activities will not be shared between programs within our VIP network.

Welcome back to 1000 KXRB - Classic Country

It appears that you already have an account on this site associated with . To connect your existing account just click on the account activation button below. You will maintain your existing VIP profile. After you do this, you will be able to always log in to http://kxrb.com using your original account information.